NEW CANAAN, Conn. – New Canaan residents will join with other communities throughout the state Sunday in a statewide vigil to remember the people who died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown.

The town and local churches will participate in the prayer vigil, set for 6 p.m. Sunday, First Selectman Robert Mallozzi III announced Tuesday. New Canaan residents will gather at God’s Acre off Main Street.

Plans for the New Canaan vigil were formulated Tuesday afternoon. Mallozzi praised town clergy for their efforts to be “the comforting and caring voice of reason in a community struck by the senseless tragedy in Newtown.”

A gunman killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary.